10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Dr Seuss

Today, in celebration of Dr. Seuss Day, on the day of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s birth, (March 2nd, 1904, to be exact), here are 10 facts about the man behind the books that you might not know.

1. He Was As Much a Doctor as Dr. Pepper

Seuss was not a doctor of anything. He added the “Dr.” to his penname because his father had always wanted him to practice medicine.

2. He Was Not Always “Seuss”

While the name Seuss (which is also his mother’s maiden name) was always his, between his first and last names, he didn’t use it until he was in college. He began using it as a penname when he was caught with gin in his dorm room and was asked to step down as editor of Dartmouth’s humor magazine. To continue working on the magazine, he used Seuss instead.

3. His Books Were Not Initially a Success

Seuss’ first book ‘And to Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street,’ which was inspired by the rhythm of the ship’s engines on a return trip from Europe, was rejected by 27 publishers.

4. He Coined the Word “Nerd”

Dr. Seuss has an even bigger impact on pop culture than you might think. The first recorded instance of the word “nerd” is in Seuss’ ‘If I Ran the Zoo’ published in 1950.

5. He’s an Academy Award Winning Filmmaker

Not only was Seuss a Pulitzer-prize winning author, he won two Academy Awards. He won his first Oscar for writing an animated short called ‘Gerald McBoing-Boing’ in 1951. He also won an Academy Award for a documentary called ‘Design for Death’ about Japanese culture.

6. He Teamed Up With an Animation Legend for ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’

A holiday classic now, the special wasn’t particularly well-received at the time of its debut. (Variety dubbed it a costly flop.) But annual TV showings have made it one of the most popular Christmas specials of all time.

7. He’s Had a Book Pulled From the Shelves

‘The Butter Battle Book,’ published in 1984, dealt with the nuclear arms race. It was pulled from the shelves after six months .

8. He Wanted Kids to Start Reading Early

The most popular book in the Dr. Seuss collection, ‘Oh the Places You’ll Go,’ was meant to be read in utero. (Ok, we let one rhyme sneak in.) Seuss wrote it to introduce a child-to-be to all the Seuss characters. But, most people give it as a graduation gift.

9. ‘The Cat in the Hat’ Killed Off Dick and Jane

‘The Cat in the Hat’ resulted from a theory Seuss had that the ‘Dick and Jane’ children’s books were so boring, reading levels were down in schools because kids refused to read them. by children.